Product Description

As far back as she can remember, Codi Noline had felt an outsider in her hometown of Grace, Arizona. Her dispassionate father - 'an obelisk of disapproval' - had always kept Codi and her sister Hallie apart from most of the townspeople. But now Hallie is abroad and Codi, troubled and lost, is returning after a fifteen-year absence to confront her past and face her ailing father.

What Codi finds is a town threatened by a silent catastrophe, some startling clues to her own identity, and a man whose view of the world could change the course of her life. And what she learns about herself though experiences, dreams and conversations becomes an invaluable tool to unravelling the discontent - and the 'something' that has haunted her since childhood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82023 in Books
• Published on: 1992-05-28
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Alice Hoffman
'A rich, compassionate book filled with personal horrors and the hope and magic of everyday life'

Synopsis
As far back as she can remember, Codi Noline had felt an outsider in her hometown of Grace, Arizona. Her dispassionate father - 'an obelisk of disapproval' - had always kept Codi and her sister Hallie apart from most of the townspeople. But now Hallie is abroad and Codi, troubled and lost, is returning after a fifteen-year absence to confront her past and face her ailing father. What Codi finds is a town threatened by a silent catastrophe, some startling clues to her own identity, and a man whose view of the world could change the course of her life. And what she learns about herself though experiences, dreams and conversations becomes an invaluable tool to unravelling the discontent - and the 'something' that has haunted her since childhood.

About the Author
Barbara Kingsolver is the author of the novels THE BEAN TREES and PIGS IN HEAVEN and the short sory collection HOMELAND. She grew up in eastern Kentucky and now lives in Tucson, Arizona with her husband and daugher.

Customer Reviews

Did not live up to author's best
Touching and readable but not a patch on Kingsolvers "Poisonwood Bible ". Disappointing ending with lots of unanswered questions.

Beautifully written story of love and ecology
Like many people, I first encountered Kingsolver's work through the magnificent The Poisonwood Bible. After finishing it, I turned to her other novels - one of which was Animal Dreams. To a certain extent, it's a disappointing read in comparison with the scale of The Poisonwood Bible: it lacks the different narrators with their compelling and individual voices and the epic vision which she brought to the relationship between Africa and the 'First World'. However, Animal Dreams is written with the same compassion, the same insight into the lives and emotions of women, the same understanding of complex parent-child relationships, and the same passionate, fervant and whole-hearted sorrow and anger at humankind's lack of respect for the environment. The book is the story of Codi, returning to her home town where she was an unhappy teenager whose life was marked by two familial deaths, because her father, the town doctor, is losing his memory and becoming confused. Her sister Hallie is in Africa, helping to rebuild a community. Kingsolver charts Codi's relationship with the town, its inhabitants, her father, Hallie and Loyd, whom she dated a few times in high school, with skill and humour. Codi is an utterly believable character, traumatised by unhappy events in the past and unsure if she is willing to risk hurt again. Kingsolver's best writing occurs when she describes the landscape and the damage perpetrated upon it by greedy corporations, although the novel veers towards the didactic at times. I felt that Codi's relationship with Loyd is a little unconvincing. Loyd is never fully realised, and his Native American descent makes him virtuous, in perfect communion with the landscape, and able to heal Codi's emotional wounds; perhaps Kingsolver should have made him less of a paragon. I would love to see Kingsolver tackle her themes on a larger scale and tackle the 'great American novel', but this is certainly a moving and evocative read, which I definitely recommend to everyone.

Pages steeped in an addictive drug
I was totally reluctant to read Kingsolver...a friend of mine kept pestering me and pestering me to read her books and i just never wanted to. But then she sent me a copy of 'Animal Dreams' and i read it out of politeness, not expecting much other than a nice cover design to look at. I was sort of wrong. The book must have been steeped in some kind of addictive drug that made me finish it in two days flat. The characters lived inside my head and i just wanted to be them, know more about them...